Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2016. Our next list is from DJ and blog editor Tyler Clark.

I think most of us are in agreement that 2016 sucked shit (which also happens to be the name of my band's forthcoming single). It's a sentiment that's been so widespread for so much of this calendar year that it's even spawned its own thinkpieces, but even the recognition of our collective hyperbole doesn't change the fact that this year was pretty beastly. Even if you limit yourself to the year in music, you have to contend with not only the deaths of David Bowie and Prince and Sharon Jones and Leonard Cohen, but also Paul Kantner and George Martin and Ralph Stanley and Rudy Van Gelder and Leon Russell and Mose Allison and Greg Lake and all those doomed DIYers at Ghost Ship and...

I'll stop now, but not because I've run out of terrible things to rehash. Rather, I'll stop because you get my meaning, because if you're reading this when it's published, that means you've lived through the past 348 shitty days, too, and you know that the worst parts of them extend way beyond losing the guy who wrote "Raspberry Beret."

We're in some dark days, but that doesn't mean there weren't pinpricks of light here and there. They've made lists of those, too, and they'll make you feel a little better for a few minutes. If you're a music fan, so will the stunning records that came out this year. Maybe I'm just looking for a silver lining, but 2016 definitely feels, in complete spite of itself, like the best year for music that we've had in quite a while. That's not a huge consolation, geopolitical realities considered, but it's something, and I'll take something over nothing every time.

Check out my Top Ten, and see if you agree.

Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2016. Our next list is from DJ and Blog Manager Clarence Ewing.

Lately I’ve been thinking about alternate realities. If the musings of some very smart people are to be believed, different outcomes from every event you or I or we experience get played out in an endless number of universes. At this moment in time there are other existences where Cubs fans once again have to Wait ‘TIll Next Year, where great artists I just assumed would always be around still grace us with their presence, if only for a little longer, where people across the world gleefully toast the coming new year as they shake their heads and chuckle “Can you believe the Americans almost voted that a__hole into office? What were they thinking?”

The idea of what might have been ended up being the unconscious theme of my Top 10 albums list for this year. The 10 albums I chose are not just among the best 2016 had to offer but also, in their own way, they represent different worlds resulting from different decisions made individually and collectively…

Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2016. Our next list is from volunteer Nick Ammerman.

this is a list of the 2016 albums that gave me the most pleasure in 2016

Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2016. Our next list is from DJ and Assistant Features Director Amelia Hruby.

Every Tuesday morning from 8-9am I host Girl Power Hour during the last hour of my weekly set on CHIRP. I've probably been doing this for about 18 months now, but 2016 is the first year it's been consistent, and, to be honest, it's been SO MUCH FUN. I love featuring kick-ass women & girl power allies in the music industry, so this year, I thought I'd keep that going and do a Girl Power themed Best Of list. *drumroll please* Here are my top ten Girl Power albums of 2016.

Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2016. Our first list is from DJ and Features Director Dylan Peterson.

This was the longest year of my life.